Arctic_Princess

((Hot Head - read the title

10.50 am for an 11am start on the Sunday

It's been very hot lately so I'll let you off ;D ))

The task is open to all heroes with a security clearance level of between 15 and 20 initially, although heroes above this level may participate.

Something tells me it won't just be the Clocks that we are up against, but I also have a nagging suspicion that we may get to meet their maker.

Oh, and if any of the Free Clockwork of Dark Astoria are reading this, apologies if my original declaration appeared at all prejudiced.

K-M B

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Hell, if somebody made Evil Cornish Miner Man, I wouldn't be offended, I'd laugh.


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Runs off to roll a new alt....

Sorry couldn't resist

Well I did bring down one of my alts for the Clocktower, Agatha Darke, but this was, ooh, last Wednesday if memory serves. As the name suggests she's a lady of a certain age and she has very vague and often confusing visions of the future - she's also a fan of divination and 'olde magicke' - expect to see her from time to time.

Also watch out for a devious industrialist by the name of Henry Ramguard - oh and don't stand too close to him either

*taps the side of his nose*

Kata looked from the computer printout, to Gregor’s smiling face, to Zoullar looking sheepish, to Ana then back to the printout. There was silence for a moment, by the Boomtown gate.

Then as one they all began laughing. Relief, joy, and amazement – it was times like this that were to be cherished, when things went right and seemingly without a hitch. Times like this made Kata glad to be doing her job and, by the looks on the faces of her colleagues, they were sharing the experience one hundred per cent. Even Zoullar’s face was a picture, albeit an odd one for him, of satisfaction and a job well done.

Ana was the first to break the silence.

“Well…it seems to have paid off. I’m glad of it.” She smiled again and looked to Zoullar, “He’s actually turned those plans in to a working model. Unbelievable.”

“Hey, don’t I get any of the credit?” piped up Gregor, chuckling hoarsely and giving Zoullar a hearty pat on the back. The poor alien hero-[censored]-engineer almost choked in shock. Kata looked at him,

“I’m proud of your work Zoullar.”

Thank you, Kata was his telepathic reply.

***

“C.B. have you done what I have asked of you?” Kata was on the phone now, back in her apartment which felt like an alien world after the past few weeks. The smell of turmeric and chillies wafted through from the kitchen and warmed her – Manny was cooking again: Oh good!

“Yes Miss Bromovich, but…are you sure about using these ‘types’? If what you said about waiting is true then, well, I’d hate to be around them when the money runs out.”

“It won’t, trust me on this. The funding I received from the embassy should cover it, plus my severance from the government will hold it together. You worry too much Mr. Blade.” She allowed herself a wry smile.

“And I still say, any hint that you’re planning some sort of militia and I’m out of this. I won’t have any part in regimes.”

“Please, cut the melodrama C.B. We can’t expect every single hero to rally to our cause and, besides, if we did manage it the public would be panicked. It has been hard enough to keep Freedom Corps and the P.P.D. out of this so far. I do not need a stampede of civilians heading for the Green Line in Steel Canyon when we intend to route Requiem’s forces through and into Baumton.”

“I was not being melodramatic, Miss Bromovich, merely advising you of my own position. And I will not be traced to this should it go wrong. You will be taking full responsibility I hope?”

“If the plan fails, which I can assure you it won’t, I will take responsibility. You will not be traced.” Kata held her hand over the receiver and sighed: When she thought about it this act of initiative did seem rather far-fetched. What if it did all go wrong? The potential for hundreds if not thousands of Council soldiers appearing out of portals, it would only take one or two people to panic and then… No, this kind of thinking didn’t lead anywhere constructive. She returned to the conversation.

“-llo? Miss Bromovich?”

“Yes, I’m about to have dinner. I trust you can access the old dance club?”

“About that. There’s some wino blocking the door in Steel Canyon. He’s shouting at anyone who comes near him.”

“Very well. Make a call to the police if you have to and get him moved. Call me when your men are safely in. There are provisions under the main stairwell and blankets on the top level.”

“Okay. I’ll talk to you later Miss Bromovich. C.B. out.”

Kata hung up and found that she had been doodling on the pad of paper by the phone: A large robot with a flamethrower and what seemed to be beam of light coming from its back looked back at her. Perhaps Red had been right; when all of this was over she’d be taking a two-week holiday, somewhere far from Paragon City.

“Dinner is served!” Manny beamed, two plates of hot chilli pesto and pasta in her hands, “Bon Appetite!”

((Due to the success of the Positron Task Force a few weeks back (thanks to Ana, Illium and Nips ) I would like to organise the Synapse Task Force for the above date. I shall of course be bringing Kata along - but let's hear her take on it....))

Dear colleagues,

I have received a request from Synapse of the Freedom Phalanx to form a task force to take on that tick-tock tyrant, The Clockwork King.

I know that many of you despise the Clockwork: I know in my first few weeks of living in Paragon I came to dread that irritating whirr whenever I ran past the industrial warehouses in Atlas Park or Galaxy City. So I am hoping to be joined by seven valiant heroes to take them on, head first.

We shall meet with Synapse, and his protegé Mynx, in Skyway City near the station at 1050 hours on Sunday 30th July. Please bring all your necessary equipment with you and make sure you have room to carry any 'evidence*'.

For those of you that do not know of me, I am a Worker of Eastern Europe and bring to battle excellent reflexes and, well, um... a big shiny sword!

So if all potential candidates would like to sign up below I will check in on a regular basis.

I look forward to hearing from you,

Katarin-Marie Bromovich.

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* by evidence I mean enhancements and the like - i.e. please sell or use everything and make sure you are stocked up with insps - especially Blues !

I personally find it difficult to roleplay task forces but this excercise is intended, hopefully, to bring roleplayers and non alike together. There's also the lure of a ton of inf and big shiny badges....

Kata (Arctic Princess) is level 41 - Katana/Super Reflexes Scrapper

You will be auto-exemped down to level 20 if you are above this level. Minimum level requirement is 15

First observation - wow! (In the amazed way, not the... oh never mind)

Second observation - no matter where we are in CoX, us roleplayers always manage to find a large erection to stand underneath....

Thirdly, the possibility for cross-game plots has now quadrillipupled (new word)

Fourthly, I don't think it matters too much why villains should congregate there. I took Rose along (after snazzing her up with the cossie tokens, naturally) and had pleasant chats with characters I both knew and who were new to me. Being chatted up by a robot is fast becoming second nature at any rate and the handy park benches are good ledgesit opportunities.

Fifthly, I'm with Prize and others on the issue of lag - CoV is by far the laggiest game I own even with all the sliders at the lowest level/off - so, I intend to roleplay Rose more than play her as the original game was intended, so to speak.

and Sixthly (!) - no, wait. There is no 'sixthly' - huzzah!

Well done RP researchers

Global Name: Midnight Rose
Server: Union.
City of Heroes/City of Villains
RP Characters:
Arctic Princess
Whirling Dervish
Agent Haven
Midnight Rose
Type of RP: Forum Boards, Missions, Statue, Supergroup, Character-based.
Can be contacted: In game mail, Forum PM's and MSN Messenger.
Times on: Depending on connectivity I am often on for PvE at any given time, at the statue less frequently now from 9pm-12am (roughly speaking), have been known to indulge in a little PvP although not terribly keen, will often be heard to ask silly questions on GGOOC after getting no response from the Help tab re: PvE content post 30s as it's my first run through.
Timezone: British Standard Time.

WIth Kata (Arctic Princess) having a katana obviously presents some problems when determining if she is 'killing' anyone.

Similar to Veskit's 'claws' conundrum, and Kata's growing suspicions about Crey and The Alliance's war with Requiem and the Council in general, she might just be forgiven the odd deep cut.

However, the way I see it, most villains are either toughened or are wearing very heavy armour and I interpret some of her 'moves' as being attempts to stun her opponent.

Having said that she has referred to battles against the Devouring Earth as 'a chance to do some weed whacking' and she's not averse to plunging her sword into the odd robot with the intentions of ripping out its wires and cold, mechanical heart

I think in general it is the game mechanics not being up to 'realistic' standards - the number of times I've dropped 'The Lotus Drops' on a bunch of crooks intimidating a hostage should have put Kata in jail and her resuce targets in intensive care by now! But I guess you just have to interpret your character's actions as you see fit.

If Kata were to ever find herself in the position of having to kill someone she'd use a pistol or other small-firearm to do so - fitted with a silencer if appropriate - not her sword.

Wonderful!

Right, Shannon if you could confirm the 5 peeps then we have a full team of eight for Positron on Saturday.

Just as a reminder Positron will exemp us all down to level 14 but, seeing as we're likely to be a fully-slotted bunch then we shouldn;t encounter too many problems!))

Calling all Hero Operatives!

Katarin-Marie Bromovich, a.k.a. Arctic Princess, is calling together a band of Heroes to aid Positron in his fight against the Vazhilok.

The tasks ahead may be perilous to the inexperienced and so preferably at least one person who knows what they're doing would be appreciated.

((This is a chance to:

a) hopefully bridge the gap between what is perceived to be the RP and non-RP community in CoH

b) Be a chance for new players and old alike to get together and see content together (I for one have just celebrated by one year anniversary and have only ever done three Task Forces in that time: Hess twice and Sister Psyche once)

and finally c) Earn lots of shiny badges and prestige and influence and possibly even XP!

Kata is a Scrapper - Katana / Super Relfexes - a nice solid build and level 37.

If anyone is interested please post, final team make-up to be decided on Friday so keep checking.

Cheers in advance,

@Midnight Rose ))

((Sure, heck RP the change of story into your RP <gets confused and starts chasing his own tail>

It can add a little mystery. Heck, I've developed Kata's backstory as she's progressed in game, tweaked it here and there, allowed her to reveal things that weren't strictly true from the beginning.

Just think, comics do it ALL the time. ))

((I've currently been following the 'Path of Dark' Story Arc which is a Council one, non-RP but with another RPer, Magma Stalion. Anything we pick up there can be used.

Oh and yes, must get along with the Defence Force: Although we're pretty useless until all the big Heroes have gallavanted off into the Multiverse. Saw Grav the other night briefly and thought things might pick up again, but it's darned difficult - don;t want to step on toes re: plot and take it in a completely off-tangent direction))

Naturally Red gets my vote (special privileges - rubs hands with evil glee ... )

Dark Rose, yay
Inny, yay
Molok, yay
Prize, yay

Heck, I'm in a yay-saying mood but if I have to pick 3 then:

RC / Inny / Dark Rose

On Union - 9pm at Galaxy Girl (the lady reaching for the stars behind the Back Alley Brawler) - City of Heroes

Although I know some people do hang around Atlas Park, I've personally only ever encountered hostility there and lots of arrogant lv 50s power spamming as if you're supposed to be impressed by yet another Phantom Army...

As for City of Villains, a lot of the roleplay I've experienced there has been in bases - because of the more linear nature of the Rogue Isles (Mercy is the only zone for low levels), and Mercy Island not having a real focal point it can be difficult to get started. But perusing other threads, if you either don't mind the risk or your char. is already a higher level, the square in Aeon City can be used to RP, the Pyramid Casino in St. Martial, the dock in Nerva, similarly the quay in Sharkhead can all be used for Roleplay.

Sorry for the long list but hopefully something in there will help.

((Noticed the nice forum on the Clicky. How'd I get me one of those?))

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Plenty wrong with becoming a Scotbot if you're a beautiful young woman who is currently engaged... would you marry, sleep beside, kiss, and cuddle one of those surly Glaswegian mechanoids? :P

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Depends how big his A: Drive was...

But seriously, something about the Scotbot makes me smile - hats off to ye Wonka for providing a bit of light relief and handy drink-producing sequeway from one RP conversation to the next

I would normally suggest E.V.I.L. for this sort of thing - but they are very organised in terms of VG structure (they're on Union btw) - having said that they are all friendly and often do 'coalition' things, with lone operators as well as other VGs.

Look out for Echo Hammer, LaughRiot, Big Lunk et. al

IC - 28/06/06, 1300 Hours

"I'm still not sure about this, princess," Gregor looked at his former colleague then back at the plans laid out on his workstation, "You'll need a lot of power for this to work. Conventional means just won't cut it I'm afraid."

Kata smiled, flicked back her hair with confidence and replied, "I have already solved the power problem, Gregor. I intend to use a 'magical' source."

"Magic? How, exactly?" the older man's face was a picture of curiosity and bewilderment.

"I have approached an associate on the matter. She is willing to help me. The shock pads from Mr. Huntington's battlesuit will also provide a back-up power."

Gregor pondered the plans again. From what he could make of them, the thing looked like something out of an old Cyberpunk comic: The sleek, domed head rested on a barrel torso which appeared to be comprised of scrappy plates of armour. The limbs were no more than metal bones and the extremities-- well, the extremities were interesting! Kata had obviously wished to place her personal stamp on the machine: The 'hands' and 'feet' were her old battle armour gloves and boots, modified in size naturally to take the strain of all that weight.

Gregor chuckled, "And the technology in the footwear, you've written here that the thing will have increased mobility. How?"

"The boots are giant shock-absorbers. They can store energy on impact with a flat surface and propel the user upwards. It took some time for me to get used to them at first but, when the old suit was fully operational they got me out of a few tight spots."

Kata was obviously proud of her work and Gregor didn't want to put a dampener on it if he could help it. The trouble was the machine just wasn't plausible as a combatant - the legs were too underpowered to provide any mobility above a crawl and the arms were too short. In effect the thing was just about useful as a one-shot device.

And the notion of controlling it by remote worried him. He'd heard that the Council often had overrides programmed in to their devices. Kata had assured him that the chips she had picked up, which were to be re-programmed, were in good condition and tamper proof once installed in the CPU, located in the small of the machine's back. Gregor sighed heavily and turned his attention to Kata,

"You've obviously spent a long time on this Kata. I might need to make a few adjustments though."

"Fine. I trust you implicitly. I wouldn't have dreamed of asking anyone else." She smiled sweetly again.

"Or rather, you wouldn't have dreamed of asking anyone directly linked with the Hero community, eh?"

The two old friends exchanged a look and Kata felt somewhat less confident than at the start of their meeting.

"Gregor, this is on a need-to-know basis. I will be discussing my plans with Ms Mueller tonight. And," here Kata looked Gregor right in the eyes, "I will tell them, when I deem it necessary."

Gregor studied her a little more closely this time. He detected a change in her, only slight but still there. As far as he was concerned this was a job for an old friend, but he wondered just how far she was prepared to go to impress the new crowd.

"Very well, princess. I'll get the boys to work on this straight away." Gregor looked at the clock on the wall, "And you'd better be off. Lunch time is nearly over and we've got a server patch to run this afternoon. We mess this up and we'll have a lot of angry Russians on our hands - some of them are Ukrainians!"

Gregor watched Kata go. She was certainly more confident now, but that was not always a good thing. What was that phrase? Pride comes before a fall. He just hoped that she hadn't climbed all the way to the top of Atlas...

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Key tip for DA is toggle management. Don't run every toggle all the time, look at your combat log and see the damage type and from there turn on which ever resistances you need. Only time i'd be running every DA toggle was if i had a buffer behind me.

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Listen to Everlcear, he/she's spot on with this. I still have my DA character but don't use her very often because I've fallen in love with Super Reflexes. Endurance costs can be prohibitive (which is why I'd advise missing out the DoT cloak until after stamina has been three slotted (so lvl 22 at the earliest, build permitting).

Whatever you do though, have fun with the character.

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Just one more quick point as to why I consider SR broken: all other sets have some form of heal or HP boost. Dark Armour has Dark Regeneration, Invulnerability has Dull Pain, Regen has Dull Pain _and_ Reconstruction. SR doesn't get anything.

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Same goes for the Force Field power - it doesn't have a heal - and Trick Arrow. I have an FF toon and have teamed with some TA defenders who knew their stuff - healing isn't everything. Personally I'd rather have a power that lets me dodge and avoid attacks than simply reduces the damage. Regen has its merits, as does DA and Invulnerability.

After the defence scale changes in I7 Super Reflexes has become a powerful, yet balanced, support secondary. The auto-powers, whilst not providing as high a defence as the 2 toggles, also provide a bit of damage mitigation as your health declines. The mez-blocker is wonderful (it even prevents knockback, which as a katana user I find useful having taken 2 multi-target attacks)

So, all in all, if you're sick of SR go roll another charatcer. I have played various archetypes over the last year (well almost, anniversary is in July!) and found some to be useful at certain levels, or hated others, others still I couldn't get to grips with. I can honestly say that SR has been my favourite Secondary.

Lack of heal also means the game is more interesting should I need a heal. So I generally team with people who are nice and friendly , absolutely refuse to shout "Heal plz!!!" at those who can heal and carry a few big greenies around with me. - just in case

Comrades,

Plans for a strategic defence committee are now being devised. My aim in this endeavour is to protect Paragon from retaliatory attacks by Requiem's forces, amongst others, whilst our more powerful allies are busy travelling through dimensions in Peregrine Island.

I have requested plans from City Hall for areas of the City I feel are most at risk but would welcome any suggestions you have.

I cannot urge this more, but I require the support of The Workers in this operation. I plan to use Nova Prospekt as a 'safe house' for the operation and Doctor Temporis of the G.o.D. has offered use of his teleport network to enable us to reach further parts of the city with ease.

I look forward to meeting with you all soon.

Katarin-Marie Bromovich - Minister for The Workers of Eastern Europe

I think flaws are good things; they give depth to a character and make them more human (or whatever race they are supposed to be)

A naff comparison would be between the perceived Marvel take on superhumans and DC's - Marvel is full of angst, self-loathing, people afraid of what they might become should they simply let go.
DC (excluding Batman although occasionally this applies even to he) are a bunch of God-Modders! They're always saving the multi-verse, being punched through brick walls with not even the slightest mention of back pain, descended directly from Gods etc.

I guess personally I've preferred the characters who hold back a little but who, in an unexpected way, get to unleash and save the day or at least the cliffhanger moment. Which is strange because when I first became enamoured with comics and the whole culture of roleplaying I wanted to be the guy with the most amazing powers and highest defences. Now, playing as Kata (Arctic Princess), I find myself playing an ordinary woman with no super powers. She is good at hacking and using computers and she has trained to fight so she's not woman-on-the-street by any means, but she's also secretive and genuinely frightened of the things around her.

Let me put it this way, if you walked into a place where ten armed men, wearing gas masks, were waiting (in a dingy warehouse or the office where you work) with the intention of killing you - you'd be frightened wouldn't you?

OOC Kata's greatest flaw is her desire to do too much all at the same time and not involve other people if necessary/when it all goes wrong: IC she believes her greatest flaw is that she hasn't got super-powers or an amazing intellect capable of solving complex puzzles in seconds.

But still she fights because, well, how can she not? She's trained as a soldier and is inspired by the leadership of those around her. To run away, in Kata's book, is an option but not for a Hero, which is what she aspires to be.

Being a somewhat part-time member of EVIL I can confirm that they are an excellent RP group.

And they are *VERY* organised

They're also a good game-mechanics group: i.e. are keen to get members seeing as much content as possible, which I think is an added bonus to any SG/VG.

Oh and you'll be wanting Union for E.V.I.L. (European Villainous Immorality League) - although Defiant does have RPers, I think I'm right in saying that Union is the unofficial RP server.

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Personally, I want to know if they Imprison EVERYTHING we send there. And how.

I mean, do they cram Devouring Earth creatures into those Orange Jumpsuits? What do they do with the zombies and COT? What about the Hypnotised Council lackies?

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Well I tend to play it that certain groups (especially Devouring Earth, the Pantheon and the Vazhilok zombies in all their lovely forms) are not sent to The Zig.

The Devouring Earth were once humans but have become so mutated (an Up-N-Away burger??) as to no longer be classified as humans. So full of hatred are they for humanity I've always imagined that rather than allowing themselves to be teleported away they would rather kill themselves than be incarcerated.

Vazhilok zombies are just plain old bits of the dead so I'm assuming that they fall to the floor, deanimated.

Pantheon zombies, same as Vazhilok and the Shamen - well they're just plain mad aren't they?

So to conclude the 'human' criminals such as Tsoo, Warriors, Skulls, Hellions, Council (please feel free to add) are, in my book, transported to the Zig.

The 'inhumans' - such as DE, zombies etc are not.

Which brings me to the 'mad' ones - perhaps Paragon needs an asylum? Yes I know it's all very Batman but hey, it makes sense to me at any rate.

Also it may be needless to say but I'm on a ramble so here goes: The 'super-powered' villains (i.e. named AVs and EBs) must have, at one time or another, been arrested and sent to special prisons which somehow suppress their powers and they must have escaped. It happens all the time in comic book convention so why not here? The named 'Bosses' of course can be safely assumed to have been captured and sent to the same facility with a somewhat lessened chance of escape.

So, after careful consideration my analysis is: The Zig is good enough for the less super-powered individuals. Now that the tutorial in CoV has been made optional this can fudge the idea that rolled Villains may not have broken out of the Zig.
A facility for bigger threats needs to be introduced and perhaps it already exists? It might be worth suggesting this to Positron and the team.
And finally (phew!) someone needs to clean up those deanimated zombies and lifeless DE. I imagine the wooden masks of the Pantheon are used in community bonfires

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Oh I should really stop reading the forums - too many half-baked ideas I get after reading posts...

Now the Galaxy Girl speed dating night, hosted by a lesser-known alt (Ariadnée) perhaps - that could work. She's the CoH equivalent of Cut-Me-Own-Throat-Dibbler so this kind of money making scheme is right up her alley. /em coughs - so to speak

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What a hilarious but whacky idea full of fudge possibilties!

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But alas already too much plottage going on with Kata. I'm going to have to start writing all this stuff down soon, anyone know of a good family tree program? Last night was spent trying to remember and sending desperate tells to characters asking, OOC of course, if Kata had met them officially

Plus Ironclad's general appearance is quite appealing and provided a bit of nerdy distraction whilst typing...